Railway signaling.



Atty.

Patented Aug; 20, I90l.

nivsn'rqn EWJLWI 1,. $03M F M G B RI E N.

RAILWAY SIGNALING. V (Applwatxon filed Dec. 8 1900 m: "cams PETERS co, wno'rmumoq WASHINGTON. n. c.

(No Model.)

V WITNESSES:

STATES Prion.

PATENT FRANK MOBRIEN, OF NEWARK, NEWV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY SIGNALING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,030, dated August 20, 1901.

Application filed December 3, 1900. Serial No. 38,507. (No model.)

To 60% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MGBRIEN, a citizen ot' the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New J ersey, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Signaling, of which improvements the following is a specification.

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in automatic signaling for railways.

It is customary in block-signaling, especially where the blocks are short, to employ home and distant signals, the home signal showing the condition of the block immediately following the signal and the distant signal showing the position of the home signal of the next succeeding block. As the distant signal is an indicator of the next succeeding home signal, it must be controlled thereby, and such control has been edected by means of a circuit-breaker on the home signal included in the circuit controlling the operation of the preceding distant signal. As long as this controlling-circuit was formed by conductors independent of the rails no trouble was encountered in the operation of the distant signal by the home signal; but since the introduction of the wireless signaling system for controlling electrically-operated signals, which involves the employment of polarized relays, trouble has been encountered, as the shifting of the circuit-changer by the movement of a home signal to clear its distant signal involves a rupture of the signalcircuit. The duration of this break in the signal-circuit of the block is exceedingly short, but is sufficient to release the electric slot of the preceding home signal, allowing that signal to go to danger. It is true that this home signal, as well as the distant signal on the same post, will be immediately restored to safety, but the home signal might go to danger in the face of an approaching train, thereby necessitating a stoppage of the train, and the resetting of the home signal to safety involves a loss of power and unnecessary Wear of the signal-operating mechanism.

the operation of the circuit-changer, thereby preventing the home signal from going to danger during such operation.

The invention is hereinafter more fully described aud claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a diagram matic view illustrating the signals and circuit for two adjacent blocks and having my improvement applied thereto, and Fig. 2 illustrates a portion of the circuits at one station.

The operation of signals where the wireless circuit is employed is as follows: While the train is upon section A the signalH will be at danger, as its operating or controlling circuit, consisting of battery 1, wires 2, 3, and 4, and armature 5 of relay 6, is broken by the deenergizing of the circuit of relay 6. The circuit of relay 6 consists of battery 7, wire 8, contact-point 9, non-polarized armature 10 of relay 11, and wire 12. The relay 11 is included in the track-circuit of section A and becomes deenergized by the entrance of a train on said section, so that its armature 11 will drop, breaking the battery-circuit through relay 6, thereby permitting armature 5 to drop and break the circuit of signal H. The circuit of distant signal D consists of battery 1, wires 13, 14, and 15, contact-point 16, and polarized armature 17 of relay 11, so that if the armature 17 is arranged to assume middle position when the relay 11 is deenergized the circuit of signal D may be broken by the entrance of a train into section A and the signal D go to danger with signal 1-1. When the train passes off of section A onto section B, signal H will go to danger through the deenergization of relays 11" and 6, which have circuits similar to the circuits of relays 11 and 6, and the relay 11 of section A becomes energized to close through relay 6 the circuit of signal H; but in order to avoid the closure of the circuit in distant signal D, which is an indicator of signalH, the direction of the current through relay 11 is changed, so that the polarized armature of relay 11 will be held or drawn away from the contactpoint 16, thereby causing or maintaining a break in the circuit of signalD. The change of direction of current through the rails of When of relay 6, of Wire 12, armature 10, back conby closing the circuit of signal H and sending the latter to clear position. of the signal H to clear shifts the circuitchanger of the track-circuit of section A so that the direction of flow of current through The movement such circuit and the relay 11 is reversed,

thereby so shifting'the polarized armature 17 of said relay as to close the circuit ondist-ant signal D, thereby clearingsaid signal. I

It will be observed that the movement of the 'circuihchanger when the relay 6* is energized will break momentarily the circuit of relay 11, so that its armature 10 will drop,

thereby breaking the circuit of relay 6 and permitting the home signal H to go to danger. the home signal will be immediately restored to clear position on the completion of the It is true that this break is short, and

immature and the other with a noirpolariz'ed ,i armature-may be used in lieu of the single movement 'of the circuit-changer; but it inthe train.

In order to prevent a break in the circuit of the home signals when the-ei-rcui-hchanger operates as a train leaves a section, suitable 5 means are provided for maintaining. the 'ciri cu its of the home signal during the operation of thecircuit-changer.

A convenient means to this end consists in so retarding the discharge or den-ergizing of the relays 6 6, duo,

that the armatu res of the relays will be held against their front contacts during the ope-ration of the circuit-changer.

Inother words,

the relays 6 6, &c., are so constructed as to; be operative tohold the circuits of home sigrelay tier 6, 8m, consists, starting from the battery 7, of relay 6, wire 12, armature 10=of relay 11, front contact-point 9, and Wire -8 to battery. Thearm'ature 10 is so constructed that it will make contact with the back con- 9 is broken.

'tact 21 before connection with contact-point This operation may be effected j by contact-springs 22, secured on opposite;

sides of the armature.

These springs are so 7.

arranged relative to the distance between the frontand back contacts 9 and 21 that as the sipe armature movesone of the springs will bear against its contactpoint before the other spring leaves its contact-point. The contact point 21 is connected by a wire 23 with the relay 6 at a point between the battery 7 and the relay, so that when the armature 10 drops, due to the den-ergizing of relay 11, a circuit for the relay 6 without battery will be closed before its battery-circuit is broken. This closed circuit consists, starting from one pole tact 21, and wire 23 to the opposite pole of the relay, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

As is Well known,the closing of the circuit Q of a charged relay when its battery-circuit is broken will retard the magnetic discharge of the relay. By properly constructing the re' lays 6 6 850., in accordance with rules known in the art the discharge of relay 6 can be delayed 'or retarded sufficiently to permit of the operation of the circuit-changer and the recharging of the relay before the previous magnetic charge is reduced sufficiently to re lease the armatures of the relays 6 6f, &0.

The relays 11 11", &c., are shown as oper I ating polarized-and non-polarizedar-matures;

but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that two relays'-one with a polarized 're l-ay with two armatures.

.I claim herein as my invention- .1. In a railway signaling system, the com-.

binationof a series of insulated track-sections, home and distant signals for each section, reflays having polarized and neutral armaturcs included in the track-circuits and controlling the signals, a relay controlling the home signals and controlled by the neutral relay in the track-circuit, and a circuit-changer at each section controlled by the home signal and controlling the track-circuit of the pre ceding section, substantially as set forth.

2. Ina railway signaling system, the com bination of ase-ri-es of insulated track-sections, home and distantsignals for each section, relays included in the track-circuits, the polarized relay controlling the distant signals, relays control-lin-g the home signals, circuits without batteries and a normally-opened circui-tincluding-said relays,andnormally-closed branches shunting the batteries of said circuits and controlled by the neutral relays included in the track-circuits, and circuitchangers con-troll-in g the circuits of preceding track-circuits and controlled by the home sig nals, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. FRANK MOBRIEN. Witnesses:

.A-LBERT I. SCHWARTZ,

DAV-I-D GRANT. 

